Uzbeck
Embroidery in the Nomadic Tradition, The
Jack A. and Aviva Robinson collection at the
Minneapolis Institute of Arts. By Kate Fritz
Gibbon and Andrew Hale, 2007 Minneapolis
Institute of Arts.
Printed in Singapore, ISBN: 1-58886-09-9www.artsmia.org - can be ordered at
$ 59.95.
Central Asia's famous Silk Road is the source of
the dynamic, highly abstracted embroideries of
the Uzbek peoples. In this hardcover book,
detailed color illustrations of the nearly 100
works in the Jack A. and Aviva Robinson
Collection at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts,
as well as numerous historic and contemporary
photographs, provide unparalleled access to the
styles and techniques for which the embroideries
of the Lakai and Kungrat nomads and the refined
textiles of the city of Sharisabs are renowned.
History, anthropology, and mythic tales blend
with women's textile magic in this fascinating
publication illuminating a brilliant artistic
tradition.

Women at work
in Preindustrial France, by Dayl M. Hafter,
May 2007, 328 pp, 12 illustrations, £
36.50 $ 53.00www.eurospangroup.com/bookstore
The subject of women as skilled workers in the
eighteenth century is central to our
understanding of the history of work and
technology in the preindustrial age. While recent
scholarship has dispelled the notion that women
did not enter the workforce until the Industrial
Revolution, debate continues as to the extent to
which women actually participated in skilled work
in the preceding decades.
This book draws upon substantial archival
research in Rouen, Lyon, and Paris to show that
while the vast majority of working women in
eighteenth-century France labored at unskilled,
low-paying jobs, it was not at all unusual for
women to be actively engaged in economic
activities as workers, managers, and merchants.
Some even developed vertically integrated
wholesale and retail businesses, while others
became indispensable to manufacturers through
their technical skill.
In fact, Hafter documents how certain women guild
masters were able to exploit the legal system to
achieve considerable economic independence,
power, wealth, and legal parity with male
masters. She also shows how gender politics
complicated the day-to-day experience of these
working women.

Author Biography:
Daryl M. Hafter is Professor Emerita of History
at Eastern Michigan University. She is the editor
of European Women and Preindustrial Craft (1995).